Thumb Piano

Chokwe Sanza

Angola/Democratic Republic of Congo
Chokwe

Wood, iron, wire
Pre-20th century

Idiophone - Plucked - Lamellophone

Another variant of the thumb pianos of the Chokwe People of Central Africa is this rectangular shaped lamellophone with 8 iron keys (lamellae) and a hollow rectangular-shaped box to amplify the sound. It has an encrusted patina and shows metal loops around two keys, so that when they are played a buzz quality is added to the sound. The earliest thumb pianos in Africa appeared at least 3000 years ago in West Africa. It had bamboo keys (tongues)and were referred to as kalimba. Metal (tongue) lamellophones appeared later, around 1,300 years ago in the Zambezi River Valley. Today, according to the regions of their origin, these instruments are known by many different names: Mbira, Mbila, Hurdy Gurdy, Marimba, Karimba, Kalimba, Likembe, Sanza, and Okeme. Larger lamellophones from Africa, also called kalimba, appear in the Caribbean Islands and are called marimbula.

Owner:
Catalog#: AF-IDPL-5-39

DjeDje, Jacqueline Cogdell. "Turn Up The Volume!" UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. Los Angeles

© Hartenberger World Music Collection